Super Mario Bros: Ember and Frost
by Haleighleaf
Summary: TL;DR because character limit: Mario gets kidnapped, so Luigi has to save him. He also gets help from the prince of the Ember Kingdom and the princess of the Frost Kingdom. Cool stuff. I'm currently trying to put out actual updates and correct my atrocious writing from years ago. Hopefully, that can be tolerated.
1. Kidnap!

"So, nice day out, huh, bro?"

Luigi nodded in agreement to his brother, Mario. They were taking a nice walk through a forest near the Mushroom Kingdom. Flowers were abundant through the collection of trees, as well as several colors of berries. Luigi had already begun collecting them in a basket he'd brought with him, knowing Yoshi would love to eat them. _I can make him an amazing stew_ , he thought to himself with satisfaction.

"U-Um bro, I never say this much, but…" Mario began. Luigi stopped walking and backed up to hear him. "Yes?" "I-I… I really do care what you do for me… and the Mushroom Kingdom…"

Luigi stood awestruck, watching Mario wipe some sweat off his forehead. "I realize I don't pay much attention to you at all. I don't respect you and your contributions. But I probably wouldn't even be here without you. Sure, I just run off and save the princess, then I come home and get praised for something I do every week. But I feel absolutely sick when people praise me when you do so much of the work. I just become too nervous to speak out… You even saved me from that douchebag King Boo, and from Bowser thinking he could melt Antarctica, and from some kind of food poisoning… For all the crap I do, I just need to say… thank you, bro."

Luigi stood in shock. Mario folded his hands and peered nervously downward, then rolled his eyes back up without lifting his head. How could any man look so darn innocent? "Luigi?" "Bro… that was all I needed to hear." Tears built up in his eyes. He wiped them away and threw his arm around his brother, the other arm holding the berry basket. Mario laughed in relief and hugged him back. It wasn't the message Luigi expected for their walk, but it was one he had needed for a long time.

Their emotional interaction was abruptly cut short when a hard slap knocked Luigi down. He slammed into the grass nose-first, and the berries he had collected flew everywhere and landed on his head. "Ow!" he gasped. Turning his head, he spotted the attacker. There were three tall, hooded figures. They sported long dark orange color cloaks covering from their heads to feet, with a thick veil masking their faces that they could somehow see through. Two of them had grabbed Mario, who was kicking and flailing wildly. "Let me go!" he screamed, kicking one in the gut. "Luigi, help me!"

Luigi tried to stand up, but the tallest of the figures pinned him down. Despite his violent thrashing, the figure managed to pull him up close to her and pull out a rope from her cloak. She immediately tied his ankles together and began to work her way up to his mouth. His muffled screaming was now pointless, and he helplessly watched her tie him upside down in a nearby, standalone tree. "Luigi!" his brother screamed again, but one figure clapped his hand over his mouth and the other placed his hand on his forehead. An odd orange glow emanated from it onto Mario, and soon enough, his eyelids drooped and he lost consciousness.

"Ma… ri… o…" Luigi attempted to force out of his mouth while his cap fell off his head. The woman walked up to him and placed her hand on his forehead. "Mission accomplished," she told the others as an orange glow emanated from her brown hand. "Report back to the king." Everything began to blur and turn orange around him, and the last thing he saw was the trio leaving with Mario's unconscious body being heaved on a man's shoulder. The world then completely disappeared, and faded into an infinite darkness, plunging Luigi into the depths of unconsciousness.


	2. Princess of the Frost Kingdom

"Where… am… I?" Luigi groaned softly. He grimaced from the aching pain in his body and noted his upright position. "Oh… Are you awake? Are you okay? Hello?" A nervous, trembling voice drifted into his ears, and he felt something tapping his shoulder. "Who…" Grimacing again, he forced his eyes to open infinitesimally. A human figure was situated in front of him. The base details suggested a youthful female with wavy blonde hair and a long, blue dress. "Please, sir, wake up…" she pleaded again. He squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them a lot more.

"Oh, thank goodness!" the child exclaimed. In his clearer view, he could pick out way more details. Her long dress was icy blue with shoulder cuffs, a collar, and some darker blue cloth hanging around and directly below her waist. Her blue necklace was a bulb with a little bit of lace as well. The dress flowed down to the ground, covering her shoes. Her hair was wavy, blonde, and down a little past her shoulders.

She stared worriedly at him with her glimmering blue eyes. "Are… are you alright? Please respond…" "Who are you?" he groaned. He leaned forward and overlapped his hands on the ground, rubbing his head. "Where am I?" "Me? I'm Princess Glacia Elyzibeth Frost the Third of the Frost Kingdom." Noticing his utterly confused expression, she added, "…Or just Glace." "Okay, Glace, where am I?" he then inquired. "This appears to be a forest near the Mushroom Kingdom…" Glace answered. "Oh, oh right… Sunglow Forest… Wait. Mario?" He glanced around. "Mario??" His expression switched to panic. "Mario?!" He stood up very quickly, and his vision clouded. "Oh… Mario! Mario!" He leaned against the standalone tree to recover from the cloudiness, then continued calling, "Mario!!! Mario!!!" "Who's Mario?" Glace inquired, standing up to touch his shoulder and calm him down.

He stopped screaming and looked down at the princess, noticing an adorable little tiara. She appeared to perhaps be an early teenager, maybe thirteen or fourteen. "My, my brother… My oh so famous brother… 'Hero of the Mushroom Kingdom…'" "Mario… Where does that ring a bell…?" Glace muttered, then she looked up at Luigi. "What's your name?" "Luigi, Mario's little brother," he introduced himself, reaching for his cap. He patted his head and looked up, confused. "Oh, is this your cap?" Glace inquired, handing him his green cap with the big L. "Oh yes, thank you." He donned his cap again.

"How did you find me?" he asked. "I was taking a walk in this forest, since it's so nice and quiet, and I found you tied upside-down in a tree. And I didn't know why… I just undid the rope…" Immediately, a blurry scene flashed through Luigi's head: him being slammed into the ground, Mario being hauled up and knocked out, and everything fading….

"Mario………" he whimpered, drawing it out. "These weird cloak people took my brother…!" "Weird cloak people?" Glace asked, perplexed. "Yeah, these weird people wearing long dark orange-ish cloaks and veils over their faces with fire emblems on the hoods…" He saw her face widen. "Glace?" "The Ember Kingdom… No… Oh, this is awful…" she whispered. "Glace??" "Luigi, I think your brother is in terrible danger."


	3. Some Not So Great News

"What?" Luigi gasped, suddenly anxious. "What danger?!" "You live in the Mushroom Kingdom, right?" He nodded. "And your brother is 'the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom?'" "Yep. Quite famous," he grumbled, spiteful of his twin brother's excessive popularity in spite of what Mario had just told him. "The Mushroom Kingdom… The Crystal of Oblivion…" She continued her horrified mutterings while Luigi stood gave her a 'What' look. "Eh, Glace? Glace? Earth to Glace!"

"Y-Your brother… I think I understand why he's been kidnapped…" She shook her head slowly and looked up at him, hands folded behind her back. "I've heard of the Ember Kingdom… They're my kingdom's worst enemy. And as you described the 'weird cloak people,' they sound like Ember soldiers. Particularly, ones trained for enemy abduction. We've been at war with them for years. Or at least, cold war. Basically a bunch of back and forth angry chitchat and spying. Oh, the amount of Ember soldiers our military apprehends at the border. But then rumors began to fly around that the Mushroom Kingdom, situated between our kingdoms, had the Crystal of Oblivion…"

Luigi interrupted her. "The Mushroom Kingdom sits between your kingdoms?" "Yes. A common Mushroom citizen can't easily enter either kingdom due to a special force protecting our kingdoms. When you walk across the border, you teleport unknowingly across the kingdom to land with the same appearance. It essentially creates an illusion that the kingdoms don't exist to foreigners. This protects us from invasion. You have to be blessed by magic to enter either kingdom." Luigi just gave her a dumbfounded look. "Well, okeydokey…" "It… is… really confusing. Magic is complicated."

"Okay, just say what you'd been saying about that Crystal of Something…" "Of course. The Crystal of Oblivion is an ultimately powerful crystal capable of destroying entire kingdoms. A blood-red gem believed to be embedded in the crown of the Mushroom Princess…" "Princess Peach? Princess Peach has a crown with two blue jewels and a red jewel, and she's heir to the Mushroom throne… And my brother's love interest…" Luigi said. "Mario and Peach are really close friends, and I'm dang sure he's madly in love with her…"

"That could be why…!" Glace clutched her dress's collar. "Both our kingdoms want the Crystal to end the war by destroying the other! But the Crystal cannot be taken forcibly. It has to be passed over by a royal family member. So, if Mario is close friends with the princess, he must've been kidnapped as a bribe for the Crystal. And I must admit, neither Ember nor Frost treats captives well…" She glanced up and noticed Luigi looked dizzy. "Luigi?" "Mario… captive… Crystal… Ooh..." "Luigi, are you okay-" And before she could even finish her sentence, Luigi comically fainted on the grass.


	4. Let's-a Go!

"Ugh…" Luigi groaned, opening his eyes an infinitesimal amount. "Luigi! Wake up!" Glace shook him hard, continuing to whimper, "Please, wake up!" "G-Glace? W-What happened?" He flopped over, pushed himself up, and turned back to the relieved child. "You just… fainted. Are you sick? Do you need help?" She pressed her hand to his forehead, making him shiver. "Brr… No! I'm just… um… like that. It's kind of annoying."

"Well, good. Though seriously, we need to help Mario. My mother tells me Ember guards aren't particularly friendly to captives… I've seen our own captives treated badly, but sheesh… No, no, do NOT faint again!" She ran up and grabbed Luigi, who was wobbling about. "Oh, oh, sorry!" He steadied himself. "Why are you so cold?!" "Just happens when you live in a kingdom where it snows year-round and everything is made of ice." Luigi gave her the 'What' look. "Never mind that! I'm thinking maybe I can go back to my kingdom and rally up an invasion force to intrude the Ember Kingdom and take back Mario. I'm sure it will work. The royal family has been trying to find ways to defeat Ember, and when they learn they have a bribe for the oh so deadly Crystal, they'll definitely want to take Mario so they can't get the Crystal. Then we just negotiate Mario's release, and he can go home!" "Anything for my brother," Luigi sighed. "Whatever it takes, I'll do it for him. I need him…"

"Luigi?" Glace softly inquired. He was beginning to tear up a little, his eyes glimmering with tears. "M-My brother… He really tries to help me, for the bajillion times Bowser kidnaps me and screws with the kingdom, and I'm going to repay his efforts… I'll be player one this time for you, bro…" He sniffled loudly.

"Um, not to be rude, but could we please avoid having an emotional breakdown? Thank you." Luigi quickly apologized for his mushiness, then asked with his hands folded behind his back, "So where is the Frost Kingdom to start with?" Glace looked upwards in thought for a moment. "Wait, which direction was it?" "You SERIOUSLY forgot?!" He clapped his forehead so hard he winced from the pain. "Don't worry, don't worry!" she gasped, waving her hands. "Everything is going to be alright! I can remember!" She sat there for about five minutes while Luigi gave her a glare of annoyance before she perked up. "Frost Kingdom is that way!" she shouted, pointing to their west.

As she turned around, Luigi yelled, "Let's-a go!" and dashed ahead of her. "Wait! Wait! WAIT!"


	5. Koopas are Scary

"Please let me catch up!" Glace gasped, struggling to keep up with the swift plumber. "I… can't… run… that… fast…" He turned his head and realized maybe he was going a little too fast. Luigi skidded to a halt and waited for her to catch up. "Sorry, I'm just kind of anxious to save him as fast as possible." "Of course you do. But I don't wanna get separated from you. This nick of the woods actually frightens me."

"Uh, why? This place is perfectly safe. Nothing particularly troublesome to be found here." Luigi shrugged in confusion. "Well, there are these creatures here. They're so very frightening. They appear in legends of my kingdom as harbingers of doom, slayer of thousands, poisonous to the touch…" Luigi began to tremble and wobble. "Oh, please stop…" Then, the moment he said that, she gasped loudly. "THEY'RE BEHIND YOU!"

Luigi screamed and whipped around. The bushes revealed the terrible… threat? "Oh wow, very scary." He clapped his forehead and gave her a very unamused look. "They're Goombas. And freaking Koopas. What is scary about them? They're the lowest tier threat!" "B-But Mother says they're poisonous and out for blood and willing to tear into human flesh for meat!" "Does this look ruthless to you?" He walked up to a red-shelled Koopa and stomped it, removing his shell. He then threw the shell at a Goomba, sweeping it off its feet and killing it. "Wow, so scary!" he uttered sarcastically.

"They're… not like the legends say." Glace said, puzzled. "I don't understand." "Maybe your legends were just a little off. Legends aren't always spot on." He rolled his eyes and proceeded to stomp more Koopas and throw their shells into the helpless Goombas. "See, it's not that bad… Aw, shoot." A yellow Beach Koopa he had missed after knocking it out of its shell grabbed its shell and forced itself into it. The shell illuminated and began flashing a variety of colors, then zoomed towards Luigi. "Crap." He quickly leaped over the Kamikaze Koopa, then bounded towards a tree. As the shell sped towards him, he leaped up and jumped on it. He repeatedly bounced off of it and muttered, "This crap is getting old."

Soon enough, he slipped off the shell and fell on his face. The shell then whacked him in his rear end and smacked him onto his back. "Argh!" Furious, he forced himself up, leaped onto it, and spin jumped on the little twit. The Kamikaze Koopa gasped and disappeared in a puff of smoke. "And that, Glace, is how not to make a good show of taking out a Kamikaze Koopa." He rubbed his nose and grumbled. "That was pathetic." Immediately, she squeezed him tightly and sobbed, "Oh, you're so courageous and heroic, Luigi! That was so scary!" "Yeah, Kamikaze Koopas are so scary!" he sarcastically cooed. "You're my hero."

He poked his head up in surprise. "Hero?" "I've never seen anyone brave enough to go up against Koopas and Goombas! Even if they're supposedly pathetic." Luigi looked down at her for a moment, then said, "Thank you." He snuggled his head against her, then said, "Well, let's-a go!" They only took about twenty steps before they pushed through some bushes and encountered a new area. Luigi groaned while Glace looked confused. "Why did it have to be platforming…?"


	6. That Weird Platforming Chapter

"When did this get here?" Glace asked, making a dumbfounded face. "I am freaking tired of platforming!" Luigi clapped his forehead in annoyance and sighed. "I will never understand Mario's love for this crap. You walk on a grassy, rectangular block , stomp on Goombas-" She gasped quietly, but he just ignored her. "It just gets boring after a while." "Well, the only way to get to my kingdom is to cross it. I'm sure the Frost Kingdom is just past this platforming section. Except I have one problem." "What is it?" "I don't know how to do a platforming section."

"Wait, what?" Luigi asked. "Not once in your life have you seen a platforming section?" "No. No one in the Frost or Ember Kingdom have experienced one." _Wow, are we the only kingdom to have platforming sections?_ Luigi quietly thought to himself, then he took Glace's hand and said, "Just follow me."

Sighing and mustering his willpower, he stepped out onto the rectangular plot of land. He then walked forward, looking back to ensure Glace was still following him. He then continued along until Glace whimpered, "G-G-Goomba…" With an exasperated sigh, he stomped it down and felt her clutch his wrist tightly. "I'm sorry…" she muttered, releasing him. "I just can't help being frightened by them… My family just ingrained these ideas in my head…" "It's okay. I'm way worse about it." "Huh?" the princess said, and he quickly asked her to forget about it. They walked up a few more steps, and she asked, "What is that?"

Luigi looked up. "Mystery Block," he said. He then jumped up, banging his head into it, and an egg appeared above it. "Didn't that hurt?!" Glace gasped. "Nope. Not a bit!" "You people really are hardheaded, huh?" He giggled a little, then climbed up onto the block to watch it hatch. A green Yoshi popped out and grunted in happiness. "What is THAT?" Glace gasped, falling over. "It's Yoshi, the friendly dinosaur!" Luigi called, stroking his head. "Isn't that right, you cute widdle thing?" Yoshi nodded with an unamused glare, and Luigi climbed up on his saddle and guided him to the ground. "Come on, he won't hurt you!" "No, no, no! I don't want to!" Glace exhibited her genuine fear of Yoshi quite dramatically, kicking her feet to push herself away. Luigi got off Yoshi, picked her up like the princess she was, and put her behind him on Yoshi. "Hold on to my back," he instructed her, but she wrapped her arms around his stomach instead. "Noooo…" she whimpered. He sighed and directed Yoshi forward. _And to think I'm supposed to be the scaredy-cat…_

"Ugh." Luigi groaned as the rest of the area came up. "This is why I don't like platforming." The area was jam-packed with Munchers and Charging Chucks forming a ridiculous maze Yoshi definitely couldn't fit into. "It's a Kaizo mess…" "How… the heck…" Glace muttered with a hopeless gaze. Luigi was about to give up hope when he noticed a blue Koopa shell right at Yoshi's feet. "Oh… This is too easy." He pointed at the shell, and Yoshi ate it. He then began to fly upwards, making Glace squeal fearfully. Even Luigi became sick to his stomach. Eventually, Yoshi flew over the entire Muncher maze and broke the goal tape, stopping shortly afterwards.

"Thank you, Yoshi!" Luigi said, pulling himself and Glace off Yoshi's saddle. He cried out happily, then marched off. "What… in the world…" she sighed, thrilled beyond her limits. "Are we at your kingdom yet, Glace?" Luigi inquired. "Yes! Welcome to the Frost Kingdom!"


	7. Welcome to the Frost Kingdom

"I don't see anything."

Luigi gave her a very puzzled look. There wasn't any big fancy kingdom before his eyes. It was just a long valley, stretching out forever and ever on. "Are you sure your magic is working?" "Of course you don't see it, silly. I haven't even done anything yet."

"Oh right! I'm dumb." He clapped his forehead, then said, "Okay, do it." "Kneel down." He obeyed her order and got down on his knees, looking curiously up at the princess. She kneeled down and told him to close his eyes and keep them closed. He gave her a very doubtful look, but proceeded to gently shut his eyes and wait patiently. "Ready?" she asked, and he nodded. "Okay, hold still." He felt Glace approach him, and her hand appeared in front of his face. "This won't hurt at all."

He gulped and waited. An icy blue light shone in front of his closed eyelids. A quick flash later, and a dusty powder had hit his face. "Ah…" She kept sprinkling the powder in his face. "This… doesn't… feel… good…" "Don't worry, it's almost over." She shot one last puff of powder at his face, and then announced, "All done!" He tried to open his eyes, but for some reason, he couldn't. "I-I can't..." "Oh, just wait. Sometimes you get a little paralyzed so it can finish up. It'll be over in a few seconds."

A couple of seconds later, they opened up. "Now look to your left." He turned to his left, as Glace had asked of him, and gaped. A beautiful gate stood before him, glimmering with intricate patterns of ice along the gate and railing. "Wow… It's so pretty!" He continued to stare up at it until Glace grabbed his hand. "Are you coming or what?" He quickly nodded and stood up, walking toward the magnificent gate. Glace looked back at Luigi and giggled. "Oh, oops… Maybe I overdid it." Luigi was confused. "Could you just quickly comb out your mustache?" He ran his fingers through his mustache, and loads of icy glitter fell to the ground. "Yeah, I definitely overdid it." She clapped her forehead, then took his hand and pulled him through the gate.

"Mama Mia…" Luigi's blue eyes widened at the marvelous sight before him. Literally EVERYTHING was either snow or ice. They had entered a main district of the kingdom, likely the one housing the royal family. This was apparent by the magnificent castle looming in the distance of the bustling town. The streets were made of ice, the buildings were made of ice, EVERYTHING was ice. The sidewalks were lined with pretty ice blue poinsettias made to withstand the arctic environment. The residents walked about in their daily commutes, with pale blonde hair and icy blue daily wear. They even carried about many arctic foxes.

"Arctic foxes?" "Yeah, they're common pets here. Ember has tanuki, if I remember correctly." She brought him onto a sidewalk, but he slipped and fell over immediately. "Oh, are you okay?" He nodded, and she quickly shot some magic at his feet. "Brr! What was that for?" "Well, now you can walk on ice. Try it!" She helped him up, and suddenly the ice was like normal ground. She immediately pulled him along like he was just an average citizen and let him ignore the weird looks the residents were giving him. After a three minute walk, she stopped him in front of the palace. "And welcome to my home."


	8. Royalty

Luigi had no words to describe what he was seeing. The royal castle was HUGE; it was probably twice the size of Peach's castle. Its structure and foundation were all glimmering ice, and even the pillars and turrets and arches were made of the cold, shiny substance. _How does it even stay up?_ Luigi wondered.

"Well, come ON," Princess Glace urged him, tugging at his arm. He snapped back to his senses and followed her up to the gate, which was identical to the gate that let them enter the kingdom except for a large emblem in the center of a crystalline snowflake. He guessed it was the kingdom's emblem. Two royal soldiers, one male and one female, stood guard in light blue uniforms resembling those of British royal guards but without the bearskin hats. (If only he knew what Britain was.) The male switched his sword to the other hand and blocked the gate. "Please identify yourself, sir!" he shouted menacingly. "Uh, uh… Luigi, sir." He trembled from both fear and cold. "He's with me." Glace stepped in front of him sort of protectively. "I just need to take him to see my mother. Could you please let us through?" The soldier thought for a moment. "This Luigi is a foreigner. Foreigners are not permitted in the castle." "But I need to-" "Your Highness, listen-" But before he could continue speaking, she grabbed his collar and pulled him down to her face. "Listen. I may be the youngest in this family, but I can still affect your salary if I please. Let us through NOW."

The guard was clearly taken aback by her sudden assertiveness. The female guard leaned over to him and whispered, "Just let them through." He sighed, then the two pushed the gate open. "Thank you." Glace bowed her head and dragged Luigi onward.

 _Since when is she assertive?_ Luigi wondered, following her up the steps. He decided it was a waste of time to ask her, so he simply followed her up to the door and let her push it open. The scenery of the throne room hit him like a tsunami. There were barely any words to describe the enormous carpet of compacted snow with intricate patterns woven in by frost, the chandelier constructed of frozen fractals jutting from the ceiling, and even the throne itself was too splendid for words.

The queen herself was perched in the throne, stroking a beautiful arctic fox with a bow on it's ear. She had long blonde hair, straight rather than wavy like Glace's. Her skirt was flared slightly, though not that much, and had some curvy patterns on it. She also had a sleeveless blue vest over the tight long sleeved top. The prince's outfit wasn't much to write about: just a standard royal tunic with a Frost emblem, shoulder cuffs, boots, and a crown. He patted a younger arctic fox with a bowtie.

The younger fox perked up at the sight of Glace and ran to her, rubbing against her leg. "Aw, who's a good little Sparky?" She stroked its head. "How could you be out for so long, Glacia?" the queen inquired. "And who is this?" "Oh, I am so sorry, Mother! Actually, I have brought someone who can help us." She pulled Luigi forward. "This is Luigi of the Mushroom Kingdom, and younger brother of Mario." She then told him, "This is my mother, Queen Crystalrose." Luigi bowed respectfully, but an apprehensive feeling kept prodding in his stomach. Why does it feel so tense in here? he wondered. It just didn't feel right to him…

"How could a foreigner be helpful?" Queen Crystalrose inquired, further intimidating Luigi and causing an all too familiar feeling to rise in his gut. "Well, he knows where Mario is. Would you like to tell her, Luigi?" She looked up at Luigi, and he told the queen about Mario being kidnapped. "I just want my brother back…" Despite Glace's confidence in her idea to rescue Mario, Luigi felt nervous. _Can we really convince her to help us?_ he wondered. _Please let this work…_


	9. Disrespect

The queen seemed somewhat disinterested. "So what exactly do you want of me, Glacia?" Glace shifted nervously in spot, and Sparky gave her a worried look. "Well, the Ember Kingdom has Mario, and they wanna use him as a bribe for the Crystal. So I was thinking we could rally up an invasion force and try to take back his brother so they can't use him as a bribe. You said our army outnumbers theirs ten to one, right?" For some reason, for just a split second, Queen Crystalrose looked nervous. "But how could we possibly locate Mario, even after invading?"

Glace suddenly seemed stuck. Luigi volunteered to answer. "Well, I s-sort of have this telepathic link with my brother that I've had since we were babies. Literally telepathic. It tells me which direction to go. I could locate him afterwards." While Glace gave him a 'Wow' look, he contemplated the situation. Their argument, at least in his mind, was very convincing. Frost had an army severely outnumbering the opponent, which could charge in, defeat their army, and he could locate his brother. Then they just negotiated for Mario to come home, and everything was swell! What could possibly be wrong there as to make Queen Crystalrose unwilling to go along with it? It was perfect!

"Oh Glacia, what do you know about politics?" the monarch cooed. Suddenly, Glace's face twisted in anger. "Are you serious?" She raised her voice enough to make Luigi wince. "Every single time I try to make a proposition, you blow me off with the 'you don't understand politics because you're a little girl' crap. Why won't you just listen and let me help for once instead of dismissing me as an ignorant baby?!" Sparky seemed to agree, since he began growling at the queen and Primrose.

"Now, now, Primrose…" She gave the pair a displeased look. "Glacia, I am very tired of this. Every time you come to me, it dissolves into an argument. Why can't you avoid arguing?" "Why can't you treat me respectfully? I'm just giving an idea!" "In all due respect, Your Majesty," Luigi began, voice trembling, "She is just trying to make a suggestion. I personally think it's brilliant. I'm willing to do anything just to see my brother's face again. Please, just help us." The prince opened his mouth to speak, but Queen Crystalrose said, "No, Snowden." "But mother-" "NO."

"I'm done with this. Guards, please capture these two. But be gentler on Glacia." Immediately, several guards appeared, severely outnumbering the two. Luigi felt like having a panic attack. Glace inched over to him and stood on her tiptoe to reach his ear. She said one word and one word only: "RUN."

His feet lifted off the ground and began to carry him further away from the guards and closer to the entrance. He grabbed Glace's hand so she could keep up and continued to flee their attackers. Eventually, he lost grip of Glace and she fell to the ground and hit her head. He whipped around and immediately risked running back for her. Luigi scooped up the unconscious princess and fled. After a long chase, shoving locals out of the way and apologizing repeatedly, he escaped the kingdom and made off into the safety of Sunglow Forest.

After escaping further into the forest, Luigi propped the unconscious princess against a tree. He instantly became worried. _Is she going to be okay?_ he wondered _How hard did she hit her head?_ He glanced around to make sure nobody was there, then wondered something. Why was Queen Crystalrose so mean to her? She was only trying to make a suggestion to help her kingdom. Glace had seemed furious. Why did everything dissolve that quickly when she had presented their idea? He sighed and kept watch over Glace, hoping she'd wake up soon.


	10. A New Plan

Glace's eyelids began to flutter. "L-Luigi?" He perked up, and then he helped her sit up against the tree better. "Are you okay, Glace? How do you feel?" "M-My head hurts…" She rubbed her head, messing her hair up a little, and asked, "What happened?" "Well, um…" He shifted a little, trying to come up with a good description. "Well, we went to your mother to propose our idea, but she wasn't really pleased with it. Then she sent her army after us, and you tripped and hit your head…"

Suddenly, she developed a really dejected face. "She… never listens to me. Ever." Glace rubbed her forehead and sighed. "I just don't get it. Why? Why does she seem to judge my knowledge based on our age? Snowden always gets his way over me, and she won't listen to anything I say. Seriously, Snowden is so stupid, yet she listens to his every word. Why can't I just be listened to for once?"

Luigi put his hand on her shoulder. "I don't understand her either. She really confuses me. Even our own monarch will listen to the Princess and the advisory council, not blow everyone off. Your mother is really unfair to you. I perfectly understand your perspective, and I fully support it."

"Thanks." She smiled up at him, making him feel all warm and fuzzy, and then they heard a bark. They stiffened, thinking maybe some foxes had been sent to locate them, but it was simply Sparky. He sniffed the ground, following the scent trail they had left, and looked up with his big blue eyes. "Arf!" He pranced over to the two and snuggled in Glace's lap. "Oh… Hi, Sparky." She rubbed his head and scratched behind his ears. "Why did you follow us?" Sparky simply barked several times. "You were worried about me? Oh, you're so sweet…" "You can understand him?" Luigi asked. "Of course. They're our pets." "We can't even understand our pets' language!" "Well, that's just plain pitiful." She continued to stroke her pet fox, and then she gently nudged him off and stood up. "Oh, we need a new plan…"

Luigi began to think. How could they possibly get into the hostile Ember Kingdom without a powerful enough invasion force? Two foreigners with no military experience would have no chance of getting anywhere. They'd be eaten alive!

"I don't think we have any choice, Luigi." Glace sighed and looked up at him. "We have to invade ourselves. There's no other way." "W-What?! B-But we have no-" She drew closer. "We can't save your brother if we don't try. We may not have an army, but maybe we can luck out. We really don't have any other choice, now do we?" Luigi was frozen for a moment, but then he sighed. "I-I guess you're right… Mario fights better than our entire army, so they won't be much help. Worth a shot, isn't it?" She nodded, and then moved back. "You can surely overcome your supposed fear of everything for him, so we have nothing more to worry about. Come on!"

Glace began to walk forward, and Luigi followed. It wasn't long, though, before a cute bark was heard and a bundle of cold fur rubbed up against Luigi's leg. "No, Sparky, no…" She picked the young fox up and stroked it. "You can't come with us… It's too dangerous." He whimpered and nuzzled her hand. "No… Sparky… Please… Go back to the Frost Kingdom where it's safe…" He whimpered again, and then gave her the puppy-dog eyes. "Nope, stop. Not the eyes." She pulled her little fox up and gently nuzzled him before saying, "I love you, and that's why you need to go back. To back for me, okay?" Luigi could see the sadness in Sparky's eyes, but the fox just quietly nodded and trotted off.

"That was a good decision," Luigi nodded. "Thanks… I hope he makes it back safely." She smiled somewhat sadly, then the two strode deeper into the woods.


	11. Luigi's Worst Fear

"Goomba, Goomba, Goomba!!!" Glace shouted and threw her arms around Luigi's neck with a large pink berry in her mouth that he had found and given to her to munch on.

He muttered something under his breath before stomping the pitiful thing into oblivion. "Would you please get off me?" he then asked her. "S-S-Sorry…" She pushed herself off. "You have nothing to apologize for," he told her, feeling kind of guilty for the annoyance in his tone earlier.

As they continued through Sunglow Forest, the surrounding area began to darken. "Um, Luigi? Why is it getting darker?" "No… Oh no, I don't want to be here!" Luigi stumbled backwards and landed on his rump. "Um… why?" "It's a h-h-haunted forest… This is Dim Way Woods…" Glace giggled in spite of his whimpering. "Ghosts don't exist, Luigi! You don't need to be that irrational. Calm down." "No, no, I HAVE seen ghosts!" He began shaking all over the place and whimpering loudly. "I… I walked through a mansion infested with them…" "Yeah, yeah, whatever…" She shook her head in denial, and then took his hand. "Come ON." She then proceeded to drag him along in spite of his protests.

"I-It feels like something's creeping up on me…" Luigi whimpered. "You're imagining things." She turned around to prove nobody was behind them just to see a terrified white circle with arms and a face covering its face shyly. "What… is that?" "GHOST!" Luigi jumped backwards and smacked his head into a nearby tree. He completely ignored it, though, and kept whimpering "Ghost…" over and over. "But it looks scared of us… Luigi, it's scared of US! Calm the heck down!"

"I don't CARE!" He threw himself behind the tree, then ran away from the tree when another one appeared. "Boos…!" he sobbed. "W-Why are there so many of these things?!" Glace actually began to look frightened as more and more Boos closed in on them, some looking terrified and some looking confident. "Make… it… stop…" Luigi curled in a ball on the ground and began to cry. A gigantic version of all the Boos then appeared, making a terrifying face. "Okay, okay, I'm scared! Ghosts exist! Just stop!" Glace began to shed tears, which crystallized and shattered when they hit the ground.

"Remember me, Weegee?" The large Boo placed a small crown on his head and grinned devilishly. "Please make it stop… PLEASE…" "You thought saving that brother of yours was the end of this? Guess what, it's not." He got right up in Luigi's face, to the point of literally touching him, and breathed. "AAAHHH!" A storm of tears came from the traumatized plumber. "Leave us alone!" Glace yelled. "How about no?" He grinned and pointed a random Boo at Glace, which then possessed her. "G-Get… out…" she whimpered, and then her pupil turned the color of her irises (ice blue) and she blasted ice at her companion.

"W-W-What are you doing?!" He panicked and ran within the ring of Boos to dodge her blasts. "Glace, snap out of it!" He then got hit in the leg by an icy blast and collapsed to the ground. "Oh… Ow…" He clutched his leg and looked tearfully up at the possessed princess, a girl with no idea what she was doing to him, and simply cried from fear.

She gave him an emotionless stare, and then pointed her palm at him. He sniffled and balled up in preparation. At the moment she blasted, another magical blast, this one of fire, swished through and destroyed the ice. "Leave then the crap alone, you freak."


	12. Prince of the Ember Kingdom

"What?" Luigi gasped. Forgetting his fear for a second, he stared off into the trees where a figure was beginning to appear. A tall, lanky figure, to be exact, about the height of an twenty year old. A small blaze rose from the figure's hand. "U-Um, go away! Be gone!" they shouted in what was clearly a boy's voice. As he stepped closer, more details came into view. He had a ruffled mess of dark brown hair, dark orange eyes, and light brown skin. He wore an outfit that was pretty much dark orange: a royal tunic with a fire emblem on the breast and shoulder cuffs with fire emblems, tight pants, short boots, and a cape stopping right above the boots. With a small crown to top it all off, he definitely looked like a prince.

He had a very timid and nervous look on his face, like he was frightened of what he was trying to do. He made a determined face and spoke out, "Be gone, foul spirit! Um, please?" He walked up to Glace and held a flame to her clouded eyes. "Ahh… Ahhhh… Light…" She put her hands out in front of her face, and then yelled, "STOP!" The Boo possessing her left her body, and she collapsed unconscious to the ground.

After the boy scared off each Boo minion, he approached King Boo. "Leave. NOW." He began to produce a flame, but the Boo had already fled. "O-Okay… Yeah… Um…" He clutched his arm, and then remembered Luigi was there. "Oh! Uh, hi. Uh…" He twiddled his thumbs, and then quietly asked, "Are you, um, okay?" "Ugh…" He clutched his leg, and then pulled up his overall leg to see that his leg had a frosty pattern over it. "Wait, did she do this to you?!" "P-Possessed…" He groaned as the frost began to spread upward. "Um, I-I'll, um, uh… help!"

He placed his hand on his leg, and that orange glow he remembered emanated onto his leg. Slowly but surely, the frost began to recede and his leg warmed up. "D-D-Does it hurt? Um, at all?" Luigi shook his head and thanked him. "Who are you?" "Well, um, I'm Prince Blitzen Alexandyr Ember the Second of the Ember Kingdom." Noticing how baffled he looked, he said, "Sorry, we're required to introduce ourselves like that. Just call me Blitz."

 _D_ _o we have the only sane royal family in the world?_ Luigi thought with a grimace. "Okay," he said, and then he turned around and remembered Glace had passed out. "Glace!" He scooched over and began to shake the princess. "Wake up, wake up, wake up!" He shook the princess over and over, but she refused to wake. He looked over at the other boy, who was clutching his arm and looking unsure of himself. "I-I don't know what to do!"

Luigi frantically tapped Glace's cheeks and shook her, quietly willing her to come to. As he felt that familiar anxiety setting in, though, a weak sound came from her and she came to. "A-A-Are you okay?!" he gasped. "Maybe? Everything hurts…"

She winced as she managed to sit up and rub her head. She then peered up at him, then behind him at Blitz, and then scrambled behind him. "What's wrong now?" Luigi asked. "Crazy people, crazy people…" she whimpered. Blitz just gave her a confused look. "He's from Ember… Your brother's kidnappers, remember…?!" Glace was trembling now with tears forming in her eyes.

"Kidnap? Brother?" Blitz looked even more confused and somewhat horrified. "What do you mean?!"

Glace looked over at Luigi. "This might take a while…"


	13. New Ally

After a few minutes worth of explaining, Blitz seemed to understand the dilemma, though he still looked horrified. "I'm so sorry… What did this guy look like again? I remember seeing this guy getting dragged off by some soldiers; maybe he was Mario?"

Luigi perked up. "W-Well, he looks like me, but shorter… and plumper… and his shirt and hat are red…" "That WAS him!" Blitz pounded his open palm. "They took him hostage!" Luigi blanched and started to look dizzy. Glace squeezed his hand to keep him in reality. "Well, could you help us find him? It'd be really nice, you know." Blitz then went from looking confident to unsure in a second.

"Um…" He fiddled with his sleeve. "To be honest, I'm not completely sure where hostages are held. All I know is that I saw Mario. I'm probably not that helpful…" "Can't you just ask your father?" Glace asked, still looking somewhat wary. _F_ _ather? I live right between these two and yet I know nothing about them…_ Luigi pondered. "Well, he seems to believe I'm too inquisitive, so he might get more ticked off with me if I ask… Also, if he ordered a hostage to be taken, he probably wouldn't want to let them go…" "Please… I don't want my brother to be a hostage of war… I just want him back…" If you don't know the definition of adorable, then you have never seen Luigi when he really wants something.

One does not simply resist Luigi Puppy Eyesᵀᴹ.

"Okay…" Blitz grimaced. "Follow me." He turned on his heel and started walking forward with newfound haste, forcing the others to quicken their pace to keep up.

"It's okay; the Boos are gone," he reassured Luigi, who was glancing nervously around the not-so-dark-anymore forest. Luigi sighed in relief and relaxed. "Those little pricks are annoying, eh?" He spoke in a forced manner, as if struggling with making small talk. _A_ _nnoying? More like downright terrifying…_ Luigi thought while Glace nodded at Blitz in agreement. Their walk was then filled with extremely awkward silence. After about ten minutes of the nigh unbearable silence, Blitz stopped in his tracks.

After another Goomba-filled area was traversed while ignoring Glace's fearful whimpering, Blitz turned back to them and said, "We're here!" As usual, there was literally nothing of interest to be seen. Luigi already knew what was coming next. He knelt on the ground, squeezed his eyes shut, and let Blitz sprinkle ash in his face. Glace also had to get sprinkled on, and to his amusement, she didn't seem too pleased.

After waiting for the magical paralysis to wear off, the gate was now in sight… and it honestly just looked like an orange recolor of the Frost Kingdom's gate, but with an emblem for the Ember Kingdom. _Wow… very creative…_ Luigi grimaced. _I wonder who copied off the other…?_

"Sorry to rush you, but we've got a brother to save, right? Come on!" Blitz started yanking on his arm. Luigi blushed red and started running with him, Glace following behind.


	14. It Just Had to be Lava

Glace had to grab Luigi's wrist to keep him from plunging his foot into the smoldering lava that greeted them only a few feet in. His yelp of shock was noticed by Blitz, who turned around on the lava and stared at them. "Is… something… wrong…?" he questioned, sounding as if he doubted he should even ask.

"Well, from my experience as an honest plumber brother, I would duly note that I have never been able to walk on lava," Luigi simply stated. "Could you please help us with that?"

"Oh! I… Uh…" Blitz tapped his index finger points together. "I… don't… know how." _Howwww wonderful_ , Luigi thought. "I might have a book on that in the castle library. It's not that far away, so maybe I could just…" Seeing the other two nod simultaneously, he turned around and went bolting across the lava.

Unsure of what to do next, Luigi and Glace flopped down next to a pole with the kingdom emblem on it and waited. Almost instantly, Glace hugged her knees and started shaking. "Are you okay?" he asked, carefully touching her shoulder. She gasped and glanced over at him. "Oh, I'm okay. Just a little scared." She placed her chin on her knees. "Everything is so different… It's hot and everything looks weird and I just don't feel _right_ here."

That comment caused Luigi to notice the beads of sweat dripping down his and Glace's heads. It feels like Bowser's castle here, he thought. "It is pretty uncomfortable, huh? You know, though, you won't ever find it comfortable if you don't expose yourself to it." Glace turned her head and raised an eyebrow. "I used to be terrified of even going underwater, but I've gotten myself used to it. Now I can stay under for several minutes without panicking. You just got to get yourself used to it." "…You sound like my dad," Glace muttered.

Luigi blushed and buried his face in his hands. "Sorry." "No, no, it's okay! That's still pretty sound advice." She stretched her legs out and relaxed. "This heat… is actually kind of nice."

Blitz finally returned carrying a huge book in his arms. "Sorry that took so long; everyone kept asking too many questions." He knelt down at Luigi's feet and opened the book to a random page. "Okay… focus…" he muttered to himself while carefully aiming his open palms at Luigi's feet and mouthing whatever the page said. A fiery blast shot out from his palms suddenly, hitting Luigi's feet.

"Ahh!" he yelped, retracting them. "Hot, hot, hot!" "A-Are you okay?!" Blitz gasped. "D-Did I do it wrong?! Ugh…" "No, no, no, it's okay! It stopped burning!" He let go of his feet and examined them. After some awkward silence, Blitz piped up. "Maybe you should… test…" Swallowing the lump forming in his throat, Luigi got up and inched over to the lava. _Welp… Let's-a go…_ Carefully, he hovered his foot over the lava, swallowed his fear, and put it down on the smoldering stuff. He gasped.


	15. Reassurance and the Ember Kingdom

_Oh, thank goodness_ , Luigi thought as his foot pressed down on the suddenly solid surface of the lava. Nearby, he could hear Blitz's grateful sigh. "I-I thought I was going to mess that up…" He tapped his fingertips together while averting his gaze, then kneeled down at Glace's feet to do his magic on them. She also didn't seem to enjoy the feeling of her feet being on fire, because she withdrew and squeezed them for several seconds before relaxing.

Glace stood up and edged over to the lava that Luigi and Blitz were already standing on. Rather than stepping onto the lava, however, she stood at the edge, shaking. "Come on, it won't hurt you," Blitz tried to console her, but she didn't seem to care. He began to look annoyed. "Hey, Glace! What's the holdup?!"

Luigi glared at him and held his hand out to the terrified princess. "It's okay… It won't burn you. It's not burning me, so I doubt it will burn you." She still didn't seem convinced, though. He just sighed and pulled the Luigi Puppy Eyesᵀᴹ again. Glace tried to look away, but ultimately relented and took in a deep breath. Taking his hand, she tensed up and stepped onto the lava.

Her heavy breathing slowed as she put another foot onto the smoldering yet harmless surface while holding her skirt up. "See? You're safe," Luigi reassured her. Though she still seemed worried and cautious, Glace relaxed and stepped out further while still holding her dress up from the sides. "You… don't have to do that, you know," Blitz informed her. "Nah, I like it like this," she replied, still shaking a little.

"Now that that's over, let's go." Blitz turned on his heel and started off into the main district, being followed closely by the princess and plumber. "It's not that far, anyway."

In sharp contrast to Frost, the Ember Kingdom appeared to have an affinity for stone as its primary building material, though that didn't prevent the buildings from being as sleek and magnificent as Frost's icy buildings thanks to excellent polishing. A lot of places were also adorned in one way or another with orange, as fitting for a fire-themed kingdom. The castle could also be seen in the distance, presenting a medieval style to contrast the Frost palace's fantasy style. The general kingdom itself could be described as medieval to a lesser degree, in fact.

The Ember people wouldn't stop pointing at them and whispering, which made Luigi very uncomfortable.

 _Is that the Frost princess? Why is she with the prince?_

 _But who is Greenie over there? He kind of reminds me of the plump guy who got dragged through earlier…_

 _Mommy, why are there weirdos over there?_

Luigi tried to ignore them as Blitz brought them up to a majestic gate in front of the castle. "Well, we're here," he said, gesturing to the castle. "Let's just-"

 _"Identify yourself!"_


End file.
